Passport Racketeering: NIS Places 80 Officers On Awaiting Trial, Sacks Eight

In a bid to sanitise the workforce, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has placed 80 officers on awaiting trial list and sacked eight others for engaging in passport racketering.

Part of the offences committed by the culprits include the collection of illegal fees for the issuance of new passports and renewal of old ones.

News Rider reports that the eight other officers were dismissed from service for the same offence in the last one year.

The disciplinary measures were part of the three-point agenda of the Comptroller General (CG) of NIS, Isah Jere, targeted at reforming passport issuance, tightening border security and improving the welfare of NIS officers.

Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO) Comptroller of Immigration, Tony Akuneme, revealed on Sunday in Abuja, that Jere revamped the issuance of passports by introducing online booking for applicants within his one year in office.

“We have tried as much as possible to eliminate third parties so that if you really want, you can process the application of your passport from the comfort of your room on your laptop, android phone, and you can pay online.

“You don’t really need anybody, whether immigration officers or agents, which we usually call touts. They have upgraded and become agents. They are still third parties.

“The problem we have is the use of third parties because no matter how much reform you put in, you will always see a learned and civilised person using a third party to process their application", Jere added.

The CG hinted that third parties lacked sufficient information compared to the applicant, adding that utilising the services of third parties could result to inputting wrong information on the database.

This, he believed could lead to multiple problems with National Identification Number (NIN), vowing to sanction officers who either engage or sabotage the reform process.

Jere reiterated his commitment in curbing corruption and other illicit acts in the service, just as he cautioned applicants against engaging agents to fill their forms.

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